One of my job outlines is handling the MTA small pocket timetables. A bastard-responsibility left over from the days of yore. I handle not only the copy, but the ad spaces. The spaces are your run of the mill quarter-page, half-page, and so on. We recently had an advertiser submit a CD with their art on it, for two different size ads. I open up both of their Quark files to find that the art is completely wrong: they made everything (the fonts, rules and pictures) red; not Process Red, not PMS 032 Red, not 3C Red — red. (we'll get to that in a minute.) Accordingly, I alert the salesperson who has this account that their client either: A) did not receive a copy of our spec sheets which outline all appropriate file sizes and submission formats; or B) received them but failed to scrutinize over the details. That's fine. I am told that the former applied, that their art had already been formatted and sent to my attention, and that the client claimed they "wouldn't need the spec sheet." After I requested the client be made specifically aware that the files need to be supplied in strict Grayscale, my call was returned shortly to relay that the reason the client supplied them in this format was that the timetable in which they wanted to advertise was red. You know, red. It didn't matter which red, apparently, so this meant they didn't need to research the Red in question. This wasn't the only problem. Their ad sizes were wrong, too. Well, sort of. They titled their 1-quarter page Quark ad, "Half-Page Ad"; and their half-page ad, "Full Page Ad". Frankly, I was surprised they submitted a completely flightchecked set of documents. The best part of this was saved for last.

They were complaining about not having run in the last quarterly printing and were quite upset about it and wanted to know why. Their salesperson had reminded them why: they hadn't submitted any artwork. I had a solution to the problem which would have been twofold and as simple as it gets. Since they wanted to contract two slots but wanted to avoid the mechanical provisions for the ads for those slots, we should run two blank slots in the timetables for which they contracted and send them not only printed samples of those timetables inclusive of their new blank spaces, but also accompany them with hard copies of the blank Quark ad mechanicals with just the crops and registration symbols: A white ad. I doubt I'll get the Green light on that one, though.